Order for payment procedure

The order for payment procedure falls within the competence of notaries; it is a rapid and efficient method for the recovery of pecuniary claims. It is mandatory in case of overdue monetary claims not exceeding one million forints (approximately 3300 EUR), that is the claimant may not file a suit. If the value of the claim is between one million (approximately 3300 EUR) and four hundred thousand million (approximately 1.310.000 EUR) forints, the claimant may decide whether to take legal action or not.

An order for payment may not be issued if:

– the defendant has no known address of summons in Hungary,

– the claim arises from employment and its subject matter pertains to the commencement, modification or termination of the employment, or to monetary compensation payable in the event of any infringement by the employee of obligations originating from employment, or to damages awarded in disciplinary proceedings related to professional misconduct.

– the value of the claim exceeds 400 million (approximately 1.310.000 EUR) forints.

In the above cases pecuniary claims may be recovered through court proceedings.

The claimant in an order for payment procedure submits an electronic petition to the Chamber to issue an order for payment. The Chamber assigns the case electronically to a notary who has to issue the order within 72 hours of receipt. The order for payment is then served on the defendant who has 15 days to submit a statement of opposition. In the event of an opposition the case is referred to a court. In the absence of an opposition the claimant will have an enforceable instrument equivalent in effect to a court judgement in three weeks at a low cost. On the basis of five years practice it may be pointed out that defendants submit a statement of opposition only in 6-7% of the cases. The unique feature of the procedure lies in its electronic accessibility, as if the debtor fails to satisfy the debts voluntarily the claimant may request the issuance of a certificate of enforcement by electronic means which is then forwarded by the notary to the chamber of court bailiffs where in turn it will be allocated electronically to a proceeding bailiff. Enforcement may be commenced within six weeks of submitting the petition.

Natural persons, condominiums, or not-for-profit general (Kkt.) and limited partnerships (Bt.) who have no legal representatives may also submit their applications for the issuance of an order for payment either orally or paper-based before any notary.

A procedural fee is to be paid by the claimant when the submission is made. The extent of such fee is calculated based on the value of the pecuniary claim outstanding at the time of initiating the procedure without including any additional costs (fee basis), which is 3% , minimum 5000 forints, plus 1000 forints per the number of parties involved in the procedure, but maximum 300,000 forints.